Review - The Deadening by Kerry Peresta @kerryperesta @partnersincr1me

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3nLFtnm
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56567166-the-deadening

MY REVIEW

WOW. The Deadening by Kerry Peresta is a suspense/thriller novel that keeps on giving, until the very last page is read and I do love the awesome cover. That’s right, even the ending was a total surprise. I am sooo happy that I have the next two books in the series, and I will be cracking open The Rising as soon as I finish writing this review.

I have read amnesia books before, so I thought I would like The Deadening by Kerry Peresta, but I had no idea how great a writer she was. It made me think of a Bones episode, when he literally tripped over her bloody body, except Olivia is alive. The pace and tension level kept me flipping pages, unpredictable moments coming one after another.

When Olivia first becomes aware of…well…anything, it totally creeps me out. Imagine, not being able to open your eyes, speak, move even a finger tip, yet able to hear what is going on around you. Hear people talking at you. Sarah, the nurse is an awesome character. The brain in an amazing organ, doing its best to fix itself when broken.

The characters are well developed. Of course, Olivia develops throughout the story, as memories return and she finds herself. Monty is a total dick, a wonderful villain, one I loved to hate. Niles…sometimes people get caught up in something and can’t find their way out. I had empathy for the man. The girls are girls. Sophie her mother is a fabulous, realistic character. Hunter, the detective who answers her every call, helps her unravel the mystery.

I am having a hard time reining in everything I want to say. I will tell you this, if you are a suspense/thriller fan, Kerry Peresta is an author you want on your reading list.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Deadening by Kerry Peresta.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Olivia Callahan’s quiet, orderly life is shattered when she regains consciousness in a hospital and discovers she is paralyzed and cannot remember a thing. The fragmented voices she hears around her help her piece together that an apparent assault landed her in the hospital, but nobody knows who attacked her, or why. After a chilling struggle to survive, she awakens from a coma unable to remember what happened to her or anything at all, except she has been told she is an entirely different person. Or is she?

Now, in spite of a brain injury that has rewired her personality, Olivia is on a mission to reclaim her life. As clarity surfaces and she starts to understand who she was, she is shocked. Had she really been that person? And if so, does she want her old life back?

Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

310 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2021

Olivia Callahan Suspense (#1)

ABOUT KERRY PERESTA

Kerry Peresta’s publishing credits include a popular newspaper and e-zine humor column, “The Lighter Side,” and short stories in the published anthology, “That One Left Shoe,” and her first novel released in 2013 by Pen-L Publishing, “The Hunting,” contemporary women’s fiction. She spent twenty-five years in advertising as an account manager, creative director, and copywriter before deciding to devote more of her time to writing. She is currently working on her next novel, and the most current one, The Deadening, fiction, suspense; releases Feb. 23, 2021 and will be available for pre-order mid-January. Kerry has been published in several local magazines, including Local Life, Island Events, Bluffton Breeze, and Lady Lowcountry. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Island Writers Network of Hilton Head. She enjoys participating in writing conferences, and has served as chapter president of the Maryland Writers’ Association. Learn more about Kerry at www.kerryperesta.net, https://www.facebook.com/klperesta or https://www.instagram.com/kerryperesta (less)